World Cup: Will Eden prove a Hazard to shaky Argentina?

World Cup: Will Eden prove a Hazard to shaky Argentina?

Belgium pointed to Eden Hazard as a potential match winner as they laid out a strategy to combat Lionel Messi and Argentina when they meet in their World Cup quarter-final in Brasilia on Saturday.

“Hey, we’ve got Eden,” teammate Kevin Mirallas said on Thursday as reporters sought answers to the question of dealing with the threat of Argentina's multiple World Footballer of the Year award winner.

“You can’t compare him with Messi or (Cristiano) Ronaldo, but he is still something special.”

'The Argentines haven't played well to date'

“We are a team that is difficult for an opponent to prepare against and to play against,” Vertonghen insisted.

"We can play different systems and we have a lot of good players on the bench. It is exceptional to have so many different qualities in a squad. We are certainly not scared about Saturday.”

Midfielder Axel Witsel said the game in the Brazilian capital might even prove easier than their previous matches at tournament.

“It is understandable that in the group phase we played against cagey teams and found it difficult against them.

“Against the Americans (in the last 16) there was much more room and I expect Argentina to look to dictate the play. Hopefully that gives us room to infiltrate and our players can profit from the gaps they offer. We have a lot of players with pace.